Dr Katarzyna Taczyńska Awarded a Prestigious Fellowship

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Katarzyna Taczyńska has received the prestigious Manya Friedman Memorial Fellowship for the implementation of her project “A Soldier and a Doll: The Holocaust in Post-Yugoslav Memory”.

As part of the fellowship, Dr. Taczyńska will conduct research at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. The Mandel Center works to enhance the visibility, significance, and development of Holocaust studies in the United States and around the world, as well as to sustain and deepen the relevance of Holocaust memory.

Learn more about the project and its author here:
https://www.ushmm.org/research/about-the-mandel-center/all-fellows-and-scholars/dr-katarzyna-taczynska

Warm congratulations!

The SILK Team at the Masters & Robots Event

 

On October 21st, 2025, MS Valéry Trân Thiên of the Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team at ISS PAS represented the HIVE AI consortium at Masters and Robots Warsaw 2025. The event attracted experts, entrepreneurs, innovators, technologists, and leaders from renowned global academic institutions, associations, and technology blogs including Google, NYU Stern School of Business, Executive Coaching and Consulting Institute, Imperial Business School in London, Eindhoven AI Systems Institute, Copenhagen Business School, Queensland University of Technology, Human Future, and What’s Next? etc.

At the Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland stand, Valéry Trân Thiên addressed visitor inquiries about the progress of artificial intelligence development within Poland. He discussed both commonalities and distinctions between prominent Polish generative models, Bielik and PLLuM. The majority of questions centered on the PLLuM model and its deployments in the municipal offices of Gdynia and Łódź.

Since 2024, the Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team of the Institute of Slavic Studies, PAS, has been actively involved in advancing artificial intelligence through participation in two major projects funded by the Ministry of Digital Affairs: PLLuM (“Responsible development of an open large language model PLLuM [Polish Large Language Universal Model] to support breakthrough technologies in the public and economic sectors, including an open-source Polish-language intelligent citizen assistant”) and HIVE AI (“HIVE AI: Development and pilot deployment of large language models in Polish public administration”). The team’s participation at prominent national and international events is a key component of wider efforts to promote the PLLuM family of Polish generative models.

Valéry Trân Thiên (ISS PAS) pictured at the Ministry of Digital Affairs stand. Photo: private archive.

The Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team in Katowice

   

On October 6–7, 2025, at the International Congress Centre in Katowice, during the XXIII Local Government Capital and Finance Forum, Dr hab. Roman Roszko, prof. IS PAN, head of the Semantics and Computer Linguistics Team at ISS PAS, promoted effective ways to apply artificial intelligence in the daily work of local governments in Poland.

The Forum organizers invited Prof. R. Roszko as a speaker to participate in the debate: “Artificial Intelligence in Local Governments – Real Applications or Just a Trend?”. The debate was extended by a lunch break due to high interest. Local government officials were interested in specific application scenarios for generative models created within the HIVE AI project, as well as the tools and resources of CLARIN-PL-BIZ-Bis. Their primary concerns revolved around the security and quality of solutions utilizing artificial intelligence. The anxieties of local government representatives, who mostly associated artificial intelligence with readily available online chatbots, were alleviated during a presentation of RAG instances operating on PLLuM models. It should be noted that these types of solutions are currently being implemented by the HIVE AI consortium, among others, in the Gdynia City Hall.

Prof. Roman Roszko also spoke with representatives from companies involved in providing digital services to government offices at various administrative levels. A promising collaboration emerged between IS PAN and Warsaw-based company ABC PRO sp. z o.o. (https://abcpro.pl/) regarding legal electronic monitoring – solutions that the aforementioned company offers and plans to develop further with additional functionalities related to artificial intelligence.

Roman Roszko posing against an “event backdrop”. Photo: private archive.
In the photo, from left: Piotr Jegorow (ABC PRO, Managing Director), Roman Roszko (ISS PAS), Ryszard Adam Grytner (ABC PRO, President of the Board). Photo: ABC PRO.

The Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team at “Spodek” Arena in Katowice

 

On September 30, 2025, Valéry Trân Thiên, MA, from the Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team at ISS PAS represented the HIVE AI consortium during the Synerise Cup 2025 – the jubilee national championships for schools and kindergartens in chess. At the Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland booth, he answered visitors’ questions about artificial intelligence and Polish Large Language Models (PLLuM). Every visitor to the booth could converse with the PLLuM generative model. Testers evaluated the knowledge of the Polish generative model, including its understanding of chess.

In 2024, the Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team of the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, participated in the PLLuM project (“Responsible development of an open large language model PLLuM [Polish Large Language Universal Model] to support breakthrough technologies in the public and economic sectors, including an open, Polish-language intelligent citizen assistant”), funded by the Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland. The result of this work is the PLLuM family of generative models in base, chat, instruct, and non-commerce versions.

In 2025, the developed PLLuM models are being further developed and implemented in mObywatel (the Polish digital ID app) and selected offices of state administration within a new project called HIVE AI (“HIVE AI: Development and pilot implementation of large language models in Polish public administration”), funded by the Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland. Stands/kiosks operated by the Ministry of Digital Affairs at important national and international events are part of a larger promotion of the PLLuM family of Polish generative models.

Event logo. Photo: private archive.
Valéry Trân Thiên (ISS PAS) pictured at the Ministry of Digital Affairs stand. Photo: private archive.

The Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team in Vilnius

From September 25–27, 2025, the Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team (SILK Team) of the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences participated in the 7th International Conference on Applied Linguistics “Languages and People” (LiTaKA) at Vilnius University.

Representing the SILK Team, Prof. Andrius Utka and Prof. Jurgita Vaičenonienė presented the team’s achievements in three projects carried out at the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, related to broadly defined digital humanities.

Authors of the presentation: Roman Roszko (Institute of Slavic Studies PAS), Tomasz Bernaś (Institute of Slavic Studies PAS), Danuta Roszko (University of Warsaw), Andrius Utka (Vytautas Magnus University), Jurgita Vaičenonienė (Vytautas Magnus University).

The title of the presentation: (en) Lithuanian Text Data and Organic Instruction Corpora in the DARIAH-HUB, HIVE AI, and PLLuM Projects; (lt) Lietuviškų tekstinių duomenų ir instrukcijų tekstynai DARIAH-HUB, HIVE AI ir PLLuM projektuose; (pl) Litewskojęzyczne korpusy danych tekstowych i instrukcji organicznych w projektach DARIAH-HUB, HIVE AI ir PLLuM.

Presentation languages: Lithuanian and English.

In 2024, Prof. Jurgita Vaičenonienė and Prof. Andrius Utka of VDU were members of the SILK Team within the PLLuM project (consortium leader: Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, members: Institute of Computer Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, National Information Processing Institute – OPI PIB, Research and Academic Computer Network – NASK PIB, University of Łódź) funded by the Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland. Both were responsible for acquiring, describing with metadata, deduplicating and cleaning a portion of Baltic text data, as well as preparing organic instructions (localization, identity-based, single- and multi-turn generative, etc.) necessary during the pre- and post-training phases of the PLLuM model family. The presentation delivered to the audience sparked lively discussion about large language models and their applications. Attendees also expressed interest in the reasons why the SILK Team at ISS PAS conducts research extending far beyond the Polish language, particularly considering that such work requires not only specialized knowledge but primarily significant effort and substantial funding (energy costs).

The SILK team and CLARIN-PL have been closely collaborating with Lithuanian CLARIN-LT structures for ten years. Professor Jurgita Vaičenonienė from Vytautas Magnus University is the national coordinator of the CLARIN-LT infrastructure. Professor Sigita Rackevičienė, pictured in Figure 1, from Michael Römer University in Vilnius, is one of the partners of CLARIN-LT.

In the photo, from left: Assoc. Prof. Jurgita Vaičenonienė (ISS PAS and Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas), Professor Sigita Rackevičienė (Michael Römer University in Vilnius), Assoc. Prof. Andrius Utka (ISS PAS and Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas). Photo: CLARIN-LT archive.
Assoc. Prof. VDU Jurgita Vaičenonienė (ISS PAS and Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas). Photo: Hanna Holub.
Assoc. Prof. VDU Andrius Utka (ISS PAS and Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas). Photo: Hanna Holub.
Title slide.

 

The Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team in Warsaw

From September 24–25, 2025, the Semantic and Computational Linguistics Team of Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences participated in a working, workshop-based, and promotional meeting for the DARIAH-HUB project. The main goal of the event was to present the results achieved so far within the project framework and to outline further development and maintenance of the structures being created. Dr. hab. Roman Roszko, prof. IS PAN, the project coordinator representing the Institute of Slavic Studies PAS, and researchers from the Semantic and Computational Linguistics Team –  Daniel Dziułka, MA, (ISS PAS), Karol Kościelniak, PhD, (Adam Mickiewicz University), Valéry Trân Thiên, MA, (ISS PAS) – took part in the event. During the promotional meeting, consortium representatives presented, among other things, the Interdisciplinary Research Platform (IRP) and the Archaeological Module. In informal discussions, Prof. Roman Roszko raised the issue of key word and phrase extraction from textual resources using models from the PLLuM family as an element to enrich research objects at the second level of IRP integration.

The “Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities – DARIAH-PL” project, operating as DARIAH.HUB, is funded through investments A2.4.1 (“Investments in expanding research potential”) within the Development Plan of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The project’s implementation contributes to the long-term plan for strengthening collaboration in building digital infrastructure for the humanities and arts in Poland.

The DARIAH-HUB consortium comprises: The Institute of Informatics PAS (leader), Institute of Literary Research PAS, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry PAS: Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Centre PCSS, The Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History PAS, Institute of Polish Language PAS, Institute of Slavic Studies PAS, Institute of Art PAS, Poznan University of Technology, Wrocław University of Science And Technology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, University of Warsaw, and University of Wrocław.

DARIAH-HUB event participants. From left: Karol Kościelniak (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań), Roman Roszko (Institute of Slavic Studies PAS), Valéry Trân Thiên (Institute of Slavic Studies PAS), Daniel Dziułka (Institute of Slavic Studies PAS). Photo: Maciej Piasecki.
A morning breakfast combined with troubleshooting project-related issues concerning license acquisition and planning future tasks. In the photo, from left: Roman Roszko (Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences) and Karol Kościelniak (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań). Photo: private archive.
During the DARIAH-HUB meeting, Prof. Roman Roszko (Institute of Slavic Studies PAS) and Prof. Maciej Piasecki (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology), summarized the CLARIN-PL Workshops (the 15th edition of the workshops titled “CLARIN in Research Practice”), which took place in Szczecin on September 22–23, 2025. They also discussed key issues related to the CLARIN-PL-BIZ-Bis project. Photo: private archive.

The Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team in Krakow

 

From September 22–24, 2025, the Semantics and Computational Linguistics Team (SILK) in Krakow participated in the “82nd Congress of the Polish Linguistic Society: Continuations and Innovations – Celebrating the Centenary of the Polish Linguistic Society”, held at Jagiellonian University. Representing SILK, Tomasz Bernaś presented the team’s achievements on two projects underway at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ISS PAS), focused on the development and implementation of a large family of PLLuM generative models.

Authors of the presentation: Roman Roszko (Institute of Slavic Studies PAS), Tomasz Bernaś (Institute of Slavic Studies PAS), Danuta Roszko (University of Warsaw).

The title of the presentation: (en) The Polish Large Language Model (PLLuM) is Being Built with Contributions from the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Including Corpora of Polish, Slavic and Baltic Text Data and Instructions; (pl) Korpusy polskich, słowiańskich i bałtyckich danych tekstowych oraz instrukcji wkładem Instytutu Slawistyki PAN w budowę polskiego dużego modelu generatywnego PLLuM.

Presentation languages: Polish and English.

During the discussion, Tomasz Bernaś, MA, answered questions regarding the ethics of PLLuM models, methods for verifying effective TDM (Text and Data Mining) exceptions, the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM), and its Polish amendment from September 2024 in the context of access to the text data market.

In 2024, the SILK Team implemented, as part of the PLLuM consortium (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology – leader, Institute of Computer Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, National Information Processing Institute – OPI PIB, Research and Academic Computer Network – NASK PIB, University of Łódź), a task commissioned by the Ministry of Digital Affairs to create Polish large language models, PLLuM. Currently, work on developing the PLLuM model family is continuing in the HIVE AI project (Research and Academic Computer Network [NASK PIB] – leader, Central Information Technology Centre – COI, Cyfronet at the AGH University of Krakow, Institute of Computer Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, National Information Processing Institute – OPI PIB, University of Łódź). Simultaneously, advanced work is underway to implement PLLuM models in mObywatel (the Polish digital ID app) and pilot implementations are being carried out in state administration and local government offices, for example, in the Gdynia City Hall.

Title slide.
Tomasz Bernaś represented the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences at the “82nd Congress of the Polish Linguistic Society” in Krakow. Photo: event organizer.

Dr. Csilla Horváth at ISS PAS – September 2025 Visit

Dr. Csilla Horváth, visiting researcher from the University of Helsinki, spent a short-term scientific mission at the Institute of Slavic Studies PAS between 7–22 September 2025, within the framework of the Plurilingmedia Cost Action.

During her stay, Horváth participated in academic discussion on the role of digitalisation and media practitioners in maintaining the ethnolinguistic vitality of minority languages without official status and literacy with researchers cooperating in the project “Linguistic Diversity in Poland: Collateral Languages, Language-oriented Activities, and Conceptualization of Collective Identity”.

She also had the opportunity to attend the III Festiwal Gwar Pogranicza (III Festival of Border Language Varieties) in Hajnówka on 13 September 2025.

Dr. Csilla Horváth during the 3rd Festival of Border Language Varieties in Hajnówka. Photo: private archive.
Researchers before a seminar at the ISS PAS. From the left: Dr. Maciej Mętrak, Kamil Czaiński, Prof. Karolina Bielenin-Lenczowska, Dr. Csilla Horváth and Prof. Nicole Dołowy-Rybińska. Photo: Wiktoria Nylec.

International Congress of Slavists in Paris

The 17th (Extraordinary) International Congress of Slavists took place in Paris from August 25 to 30, 2025. There were researchers from the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ISS PAS) among its participants.

On August 26, Prof. Dorota Krystyna Rembiszewska delivered a co-authored paper (with Janusz Siatkowski) entitled “Chronological Parameters in the Study of Lexis on the Polish–East Slavic Borderland”. On August 28, she represented Poland at the meeting of the national committees of the International Committee of Slavists (ICS). In addition, Prof. Rembiszewska assumed the chairmanship of the Commission on the Pan-Slavic Linguistic Atlas.

On Wednesday, August 27, at the request of the organizers, Prof. Ryszard Grzesik chaired the session entitled Rapports réciproques entre les cultures savantes slaves, byzantines et ouest-européennes jusqu’à l’époque modernę (Reciprocal Relations between erudite Slavic, Byzantine, and Western European Cultures until the Early Modern Period). Within this session, he presented a paper entitled “Hungarian Chroniclers on the Slavs”. The following day, he also chaired — in a hybrid format — a meeting of the Professor Gerard Labuda Commission on the Early History of the Slavs, which was accredited for the 2025–2029 term.

Prof. Piotr Sobotka delivered two lectures at the congress: on August 26, “Происхождение славянских экспонентов «истины» с функциональной точки зрения: заметки по этимологии и методу” (The Origin of Slavic Exponents of  “Truth” from a Functional Perspective: Notes on Etymology and Method), and on August 30, “The Proto-Slavic Dictionary – Transition from the Printed to the Digital Version”. Furthermore, on August 28, during a meeting of the Etymological Commission, Prof. Sobotka was elected its secretary (with Prof. Marta Bjeletić from the Serbian Academy of Sciences as the chairperson). Among the newly elected Commission members there was also Dr. Szymon Pogwizd from the ISS PAS.

Prof. Alena Rudenka participated in Section 1.2. Histoire des langues slaves (History of the Slavic Languages), particularly in subsection 1.2.5. Interaction des langues slaves normées et des dialectes locaux à différentes périodes de l’histoire (Interaction of Standard Slavic Languages and Local Dialects in Different Historical Periods). Her paper focused on letters from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the 14th to 16th centuries. In addition to attending thematic sessions and round-table meetings, Prof. Rudenka also participated in the activities of the Commission for Slavic Ethnolinguistics at the Congress of Slavists, with which she has long been associated through her work on the EUROJOS project. The meeting was held in a hybrid format. A report on the Commission’s activities over the last six years has been published at: https://www.slavic-ethnolinguistics.org/home/novosti-events.

Dr. hab. Anna Engelking, Associate Professor at the ISS PAS, chaired Section 3.1.4. on August 29, titled L’héritage des grands slavistes (The Heritage of the Great Slavists), where she presented a paper entitled “The Unknown Face of Polish Slavic Anthropology: The Legacy of Józef Obrębski and Its Dissemination”.

On August 29, Dr. hab. Grażyna Szwat-Gyłybowa, Associate Professor at the ISS PAS, presented a paper entitled “The Topos of the «Immured Woman» in the 20th and 21st Century Bulgarian Scholarly Thought”, in which she discussed, among other things, the results of her research conducted within the OPUS grant of the National Science Centre entitled “The Topos of the «Immured Woman» in the Cultures of Southeastern Europe and Hungary”.

Dr. hab. Zofia Sawaniewska-Mochowa, Associate Professor (prof. em.) at the ISS PAS, also participated in the congress. On August 28, during a session of the Commission for Slavic Ethnolinguistics, she presented a paper and a visual presentation entitled “Women’s Ego-documents as Sources for Ethnolinguistic Research”. The paper was closely connected to the Polish-Lithuanian team project currently being carried out under the National Programme for the Development of the Humanities, entitled “The Ego-documents of Emilia Wróblewska (1850–1886) — A Testament of Life and Ideological Views of a Polish Woman from the Vilnius Intelligentsia. A Digital Edition of 7 Diaries with Critical Apparatus and an E-Monograph”. The lecture concerned methodological approaches to studying the complex mental construct of the identity of a woman living at the cultural crossroads during the time of partitions after the fall of national uprisings. The presentation sparked a lively and inspiring discussion. The session was attended by ethnolinguists from Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, an independent researcher from Belarus, and Dr. Rima Cicėnienė, Director of Research at the Wróblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, who represented the project partner from Lithuania..

As part of the Congress, a meeting of the Commission on Linguistic Bibliography was held, chaired by Dr. Paweł Kowalski of the ISS PAS. During the session, new members were elected, including Dr. Roman Tymoshuk (ISS PAS), Dr. Jelena Janković (SANU), Dr. Ana Golubović (University of Belgrade), Dr. Julia Cygwinceva (NANU), Dr. Monika Łaszkiewicz (UMCS), and Dr. Ekaterina Petkova (BAS). Dr. Kowalski also participated in the thematic block of the Commission on Word-Formation and attended a meeting at the Serbian Embassy. Additionally, he is a candidate for the position of secretary of the Commission on the Pan-Slavic Linguistic Atlas.

This year, for the first time, the Slavic Studies Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the publishing house of the Institute of Slavic Studies PAS, prepared the 14th volume in the series “From Polish Slavic Studies”, edited by Prof. Dorota Krystyna Rembiszewska, Prof. Ryszard Grzesik, and Prof. Stanisława Niebrzegowska-Bartmińska. As in previous years, the volume is divided into two parts: “Literary and Cultural Studies” and “Linguistics”. The volume includes papers by Polish historians, literary and cultural scholars, and linguists that were presented during the Paris congress.

Prof. Natalia Bernickaja, the chair of the ICS, announced that the next congress will take place in Prague in 2029.

Prof. Dorota K. Rembiszewska presenting her paper. Photo: private archive.
From left: Prof. Dorota K. Rembiszewska, Prof. Krystyna Rutkowska, and Prof. Valentyna Sobol. Photo: private archive.
ISS PAS staff together with other ICS participants. Photo: private archive.
Entrance to the conference venue. Photo: Prof. Dorota K. Rembiszewska.
Prof. Alena Rudenka on her way to the conference. Photo: private archive.
Prof. Piotr Sobotka with Prof. Valentina Apresjan at the session dedicated to formal and functional syntax of Slavic languages. Photo: Prof. Dorota K. Rembiszewska.
Prof. Grażyna Szwat-Gyłybowa with other congress participants. Photo: private archive.
Prof. Piotr Sobotka at the congress opening. Photo: private archive.
Prof. Ryszard Grzesik during his lecture. Photo: Prof. Dorota K. Rembiszewska.
Prof. Zofia Sawaniewska-Mochowa on her way to the ethnolinguistic section meeting. Photo: private archive.
Prof. Zofia Sawaniewska-Mochowa presenting her paper, chaired by Prof. Aleksy Judin from Belgium. Photo: private archive.
Prof. Ryszard Grzesik and Prof. Piotr Sobotka with Prof. Aleksander Kikliewicz from the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn and Dr. hab. Mirosław Jankowiak from the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Photo: Prof. Alena Rudenka.
Meeting of the Commission on Word-Formation at the ICS held at the Embassy of Serbia. Photo: private archive.

Invitation to a Debate on „Sprawy Narodowościowe”

We invite you to a special debate (in Polish) „To, co zostało. Doświadczanie historii w post-migracyjnej Europie Środkowej” / “What Remains. Experiencing History in Post-Migratory Central Europe”, which will take place on October 8, 2025, at 6:00 PM at Pracownia Etnograficzna in Warsaw (4/6 Warecka Street).

This event is inspired by the latest issue of “Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa”. Together, we’ll explore the traces, memories, and challenges of histories in regions shaped by migration and change. In the lead-up to the debate, we’ve been featuring the articles from this issue on Facebook page of ERC StG Spectral Recycling. Be sure to check them out for background and insights.

We especially encourage you to read Michal Korhel’s and Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska’s editorial – they offer an introduction to the issue’s central themes.

Panelists:

Kamila Fiałkowska (University of Warsaw)

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur (New York University)

Dariusz Stola (Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences)

Moderator: Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska (PI in ERC StG Spectral Recycling and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Sprawy Narodowościowe)

The event is free and open to everyone! Let’s talk about memory, migration, and what stays with us.

Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences

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